Think Pinker

A study recently published by researchers in PLoS Medicine at the London School of Hygiene & Topical Medicine noted that birth size (especially length) had a direct correlation with the risk of breast cancer as an adult.

The theory of birth size tied to risk of breast cancer has been identified in the past but the study outcomes have been inconsistent. This latest study conducted by a Professor of Epidemiology (Isabel dos Santos Silva) reanalyzed existing data both published and unpublished in an effort of obtaining both a more consistent pattern and a more precise estimate of just how birth weight directly ties to breast cancer risk in those later years. They also looked for any other element or association that would explain the risk factor pattern.

 After examining 32 studies made up of 22,000 individual breast cancer cases and 600,000 women all from developed nations, what became evident is that birth weight was in fact directly associated to breast cancer risk.

According to a CBC report what was discovered is that a woman who weight 8.8 pounds or more at birth actually had a 12% increase in the risk of developing breast cancer. Here was strongest proof yet, however there’s not a lot of prevention that can occur here since birth weight is not a controllable factor. That said the scientists are also looking at if a fetus is exposed to higher levels of estrogen whether that can increase the risk of breast cancer in later years.